


Photographic Memory

by fatalchild



Category: Zero | Fatal Frame Series, Zero: Shisei no Koe | Fatal Frame III: The Tormented
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-03
Updated: 2011-12-03
Packaged: 2017-10-26 19:53:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/287234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fatalchild/pseuds/fatalchild
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Akito always loved to take Kyouka's picture, but he's not the one holding the camera now. At least, not exactly.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Photographic Memory

**Author's Note:**

  * For [elwing_alcyone](https://archiveofourown.org/users/elwing_alcyone/gifts).



Kyouka sat down at the koto and folded her hands in her lap. She shifted slightly and placed her hands on the koto strings before sighing heavily and returning them to her lap.

“How should I pose?” she asked.

“However you like,” Akito replied, smiling slightly but not looking up from the camera he was tinkering with.

Kyouka bit her lip and tucked a stray lock of hair back into place behind her ear. “I don’t want to mess up your picture…”

“Don’t even think such a thing.  I’m lucky to be able to photograph one so beautiful as you.”  He set the camera down and extended his hand towards her. “May I?”  She nodded her consent, prompting him to pull the comb from her hair, sending the delicate strands tumbling down over her shoulders like a silk black cloak.  “There,” he whispered. “Perfect.”

There was a click and a flash of light.

“Was that it?” she asked.

Akito nodded.

Kyouka lowered her eyes and blushed.  “Well, now I feel silly for making such a fuss over something so simple.”

“Not at all.  It is a simple process, but the picture will last forever.”

“Forever…?”

“Yes, and I’ll treasure it forever as well.”

“I didn’t realize it was so important to you.”

“Of course it is.  It’s a picture of _you_.” He smiled and looked down.  “I apologize. That was, perhaps, a bit too forward.”

“Not at all…”  His confession, the sudden shift of power, made her feel bold.  “Would you like to take another?”

 

The same click, the same flash of light, but they were accompanied by a rush of fire through her blood. She screamed.

“Akito, stop!”

But he didn’t stop.  Her cry seemed to encourage him, and he mashed the shutter button repeatedly.  She flailed and groped blindly, trying to dislodge the camera from his grasp, but to no avail.  The pain eventually faded, replaced with a cold emptiness, a sickening weakness which sent her sinking to the floor, arms still outstretched towards him.

“I’m sorry. I’m not Akito.”

His words didn’t seem to reach her.

“Wait,” she called.  “Don’t go. Don’t leave me again.”

“I don’t want to hurt you,” he said.  “I’m trying to help you. Please understand.”  He gave her a sad sympathetic look and turned to leave.

“You said you would come back,” she sobbed.  “I’ve been waiting for so long… just to see you again.  Please stay with me.  Just for a while…”

His countenance changed abruptly, the warm fondness that she loved so well returning to his face, and he crossed to her side.  She reached for him, clutching with a frantic possessiveness.  He yielded to her embrace.  Her lips sought his, trembling nervously, but he didn’t resist her.

The smell of him brought a flood of memories, and she slid her hands under the folds of his clothing.  He allowed this as well.  His breathing quickened, encouraging her so that she pressed the length of her body against his.  He wound his arms around her, trailed his hands up her back, and buried his fingers in the folds of her hair, just as he always had before.  She sighed her pleasure against his mouth, spurring him on to kiss and caress her so perfectly that the agony of his long absence was soon forgotten.

Afterwards, she remained entwined with him, listening to his breathing, the sound of his heartbeat, until such became slow and rhythmic.  She draped her body over his like a blanket.  She clung to him, determined never to be parted from him again, but Kyouka woke up alone.  All that remained was the faded photograph that he had given her all those years ago.  She picked it up, turning it over when the light played behind it in such a way that she noticed unfamiliar markings on the back.

 _I’ll come back. I promise._

 _Please wait a little while longer._

She clasped the photo to her chest and sighed.  A little while longer…

Hope renewed, Kyouka returned to her koto and began to play.


End file.
